In 1906, they operated 40 lines over 172 miles of track. The name, Portland General Electric (PGE), remained in use as a division of the trolley company and, after subsequent reorganizations in 1930 and 1940, eventually PGE became once again fully independent as a power utility company.

Portland Public Schools headquarters, a big orange building is to our left, behind the trees. PPS was founded in 1851, and has some 47,000 students in 81 schools, the largest school district in the Pacific Northwest.

Our first stop on the East side is near the Leftbank Project, which is straight ahead from our traffic island stop. Left Bank provides innovative work spaces for Portland’s mission-focused community and has a popular cafe.

In 1923, during Prohibition, Portland’s most prominent architect, A.E. Doyle designed the Hazelwood building (now Left Bank). The building housed a bakery, restaurants, and was home to Portland’s premier jazz club. In 1923, the same year the building went up, the Paramount Apartments (to the left) were built.

The Left Bank Annex, straight ahead at 101 Weidler, is an extension of the Left Bank site. The Annex was a machine shop for WWII airplane parts in a previous life.

The Memorial Coliseum was the home court of the Portland Trail Blazers. Three NBA Finals have been played in the Coliseum; in 1977 (when the Trail Blazers won) and in 1990 and 1992. Construction began on the nearby Rose Garden soon after the 1992 NBA finals, and it became the team’s home arena when it opened in 1995.

Two light rail stations also serve the arenas to the south. A MAX Yellow Line is the first stop northbound on the Interstate MAX. About 200 yards away is the Rose Quarter Transit Center’s MAX station, where transfers to the eastbound MAX Blue and Red lines are possible. Several bus lines also serve the transit center.

The nearby Rose Garden is the primary indoor sports arena in Portland. It is suitable for large indoor events of all sorts, including basketball, ice hockey, rodeos, circuses, conventions, ice shows, concerts, and dramatic productions. The arena has a capacity of 20,000 spectators

The primary scoreboard is a Mitsubishi-manufactured high definition video scoreboard, which hangs from the ceiling over center court, features four 15 feet by 22.5 feet (4.5 m by 6.75 m) video screens, among the biggest in the NBA. The arena also features over 650 television monitors placed throughout, showing the action on court.

In 1976, Portland became the first American city to host a team in the Western Hockey League. The Portland Winter Hawks have racked up numerous pennants and playoff championships and are the go to source for America’s National Hockey League recruiting.